Synopsis
When writer Anna Jameson traveled down the Georgian Bay in 1837, she could barely contain her excitement over the “ineffable loveliness” that surrounded her. Anna’s Anishinabek guides would no doubt have agreed with her, because for thousands of years they had thrived on the area’s abundant supply of fish, game and berries. To the colonial authorities, however, Georgian Bay’s 30 000 islands and the area’s thin soil made navigation and farming all but impossible. Settlers who made it to the district often left immediately. Those who stayed ended up living a diversified lifestyle, which resembled the traditional ways of the Anishinabek more than that of a European farmer. Rooted in Stone follows the evolution of the West Parry Sound District - as governments, lumbermen, fishermen, tourism operators, and even explosives manufacturers, try to make this landscape of islands, shoals, swamps and lakes ‘productive.’

This project was produced in cooperation with the Living History Multimedia Association, with funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, FedNor and the City of Greater Sudbury. It is part of the Ontario Visual Heritage Project.